DUSHANBE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - A former warlord hunted byauthorities in Tajikistan has given himself up, state mediareported on Monday, bowing to government demands three weeksafter nearly 50 people were killed during a military offensivein a mountainous area near the Afghan border.

The government had demanded Tolib Ayombekov surrender as acondition for it withdrawing troops from the autonomousGorno-Badakhshan region, where 17 soldiers, 30 rebels and atleast one civilian were killed in fighting in late July.

Ayombekov, who fought against the government in a 1992-97civil war, is accused of murdering a local security chief, akilling that prompted President Imomali Rakhmon to sendthousands of troops into the Pamir mountains in pursuit.

However, some analysts said the military operation, thelargest of its kind in almost two years, was more a show offorce by Rakhmon, whose control over parts of the impoverishedformer Soviet republic remains tenuous 15 years after the end ofthe war.

Ayombekov, who denies involvement in the murder, turnedhimself in late on Sunday in the interests of "maintainingpeace" in the mainly Muslim country of 7.5 million people, state news agency Khovar reported.

A local television channel showed Ayombekov, apparently ingood health, reading from a statement after surrendering.

"We are prepared to answer before the law. Let the judiciarydecide who is to blame and who isn't," he said. "We are alwaysready to serve Tajikistan and the head of state's policies."

Ayombekov was a border guard commander in the region and oneof many opposition fighters to receive government jobs as partof a peace deal that ended a civil war in which tens ofthousands were killed.

The State Committee on National Security, successor to theSoviet-era KGB, had accused him of running a tobacco smugglingoperation along the porous border with Afghanistan.

Separated from Afghanistan by the Pyandzh river,Gorno-Badakhshan is an autonomous region where the authority ofcentral government is fragile. Most of its 250,000-strongpopulation sided with the opposition during the civil war.

Rebels who resisted the government offensive began layingdown their weapons on July 29, five days after troops attacked.